


You're the Worst

by SassySnowperson (DramaticEntrance)



Series: Bodhi Lives [2]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Bodhi Rook Lives, Developing Friendships, Gen, Grief/Mourning, IN SPACE, K-2SO Lives, Past Bodhi Rook/Galen Erso, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sass, Space Opera, Space Pirates, shuttle!K-2SO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 21:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9403964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticEntrance/pseuds/SassySnowperson
Summary: Bodhi Rook and K-2SO are alive after the Battle of Scarif. Bodhi is determined to find his way back to the Rebellion and do what he can to crush the Empire. K-2SO is determined to find a body with legs. K-2SO is a bad therapist. Bodhi is a surprisingly good con artist. A story of space piracy, hard truths, and how friendship grows in unexpected places,





	

**Author's Note:**

> The continuing adventures of Bodhi Rook and K-2SO! I hope you enjoy reading the space adventures even half as much as I enjoyed writing them. 
> 
> Trigger warnings for PTSD and Grief/Loss. Details in the end notes.

Bodhi Rook stared out the windows of the shuttle. Stars streaked past, distorted by the hyperdrive. It was almost peaceful. 

“I have a bad feeling about this.” The voice projected from the shuttle console. 

Almost. 

“We agreed this was the best plan,” Bodhi said, not moving, unfocused eyes watching stars fly by. 

“No. The best plan was the one where we became space pirates,” the console opined. 

Bodhi took a deep breath, and considered not answering. After about three seconds he couldn’t help himself. “You are a transport ship.” 

“Which is your fault. You owe me. I was happier being an Imperial Security droid,” the transport ship formerly known as K-2SO informed Bodhi. 

“It was in the middle of a battle. Do you really think I had time to go, hey, you know what would make K-2SO really annoyed? If I uploaded his backup consciousness into a shuttle!” 

“That’s right. My survival was an accident. Because you don’t care about me. You know, this is the sort of thing that would drive a droid to piracy.” The console’s lights blinked on and off in emphasis. 

“Are you still a droid?” Bodhi muttered, mostly to himself. 

“Oh no. I have rescheduled my Tuesday crisis of identity to next week. I don’t appreciate you trying to go off topic.” 

Bodhi groaned, pitching his head forward. Loose strands of hair fell into his face. “Look, I’m sorry, I’ll try to find you a proper body again. But for right now, if anyone scans our ship ID they’ll see we are an Imperial shuttle that was supposed to have exploded on Scarif. And then we both die. Rather more permanently than last time.” 

The console huffed at Bodhi. Bodhi wasn’t sure how K-2SO had managed that. 

* * *

The shuttle chirped a proximity warning before the hyperdrive disengaged. The planet Locel abruptly focused into view. 

Imperial occupied, so if their shuttle was found it wouldn’t look too out of place. But it had no strategic value, and a minimal garrison was maintained. There was a good chance the shuttle wouldn’t be found. More importantly, K-2SO remembered a forger in Switchip City who had worked with Cassian once. There was a good chance the forger could override the ship’s ID code, making the shuttle a little more anonymous as it flew through space. 

Touch-down in the hilly scrublands a few miles outside of the city. Hike into town, doing his best to avoid patrols. Find the forger. Hope that something on the shuttle was valuable enough that the forger would accept trade. Wonder if he had, once upon a time, enough credits in a savings account on Jedha to cover the transaction. Stop thinking about Jedha. 

Bodhi shook his head. Before any of that, they had to figure out what to do with K-2SO. 

“I’m telling you, this is the only thing in the shuttle with complex enough circuitry to let you run a backup of your identity. You can control it directly when you are in range, and it has just enough engineering to run autonomously if you need to. But if you don’t want to do it, you could stay with the shuttle.” Bodhi waved a holovid player in the general direction of the shuttle console.

“Nothing good ever comes of me staying with the shuttle. Fine,” K-2SO said. 

Bodhi popped open a hatch on the shuttle console, and began wiring the holovid player to it. 

“I’ll be able to pick up sound, and it has speakers, but there is no way for me to talk,” the shuttle said, morosely. “There must be something better. You didn’t look hard enough.” 

Bodhi very carefully pressed his lips together and did not say anything. 

Everyone dealt with grief differently, he reminded himself. Even droids. K-2SO had been restored from a backup to learn that his best friend had died in a battle K-2SO couldn’t remember fighting. Even before that, K-2SO had not been the brightest ray of sunshine. It made sense that he would not be happy. It made sense that the shuttle had done nothing but morosely point out all of Bohdi’s faults since Bodhi had inadvertently wired K-2SO’s consciousness into it. 

Bodhi was not happy that K-2SO would be unable to speak for the duration. No, certainly not. Bodhi was very empathetic to how difficult it would be for K-2SO. 

Bodhi was unable to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up in a small smile. 

* * *

Landing was fine. Uneventful. The hike was fine, with the exception of a rather large scaly thing skittering out from the underbrush and doing it’s best to turn Bodhi into lunch. Bodhi, through some hasty rock climbing and a lucky blaster hit managed to avoid the attack. 

“We’re alive!” A young man’s voice came from his pack. 

Bodhi froze. He reached around and pulled out K-2SO’s holovid body. The screen was paused on a young soldier, staring amazed at an older, grizzled war veteran. 

“Yeah,” The war veteran said. “No thanks to your terrible shooting.” 

“No,” Bodhi said, staring at the vid. 

“Yes!” the holovid chimed. The movie had switched. A young girl stared at a scientific looking display, her fists in the air in celebration. 

Switch. “Welcome to my library of,” an Ithorian said, walking through stacks of shelves of books. He was cut off, replaced with a small child of indeterminate species yelling, “Holovids!” 

The video switched back to the war veteran. “—terrible shooting.”

The video looped. “—terrible shooting. —terrible Shooting. —terrible shooting. —terr—” 

“You are the worst,” Bodhi said staring at the screen. 

“I know,” said a woman in a poofy dress. 

“I’m going to continue hiking now,” Bodhi said, tucking the holovid player back in his pack. 

From the backpack came a muffled, “Do you know who I am! I will not be silenced!”

Bodhi sighed, and continued hiking. It was a long trek. 

* * *

The same irritating song had been looping for the last half hour of Bodhi’s hike. Bodhi finally pulled the holovid recorder out of his back and paused for a heart-to-heart. 

“I am coming up on the town now.” 

Both the song and the visual image of a couple slowly twirling in zero-gravity kept playing. 

“And I know that you are irritated that you are a holovid recorder.” 

“Yes!” Science Girl came back. 

“But I am literally about to walk into an occupied city. The goal is to be unnoticed. If I must be noticed, then I will be a lost hiker. A holovid player that plays the same song on repeat for half an hour is going to be noticed. And a lost hiker would not be carrying around a holovid player.” 

The image of an old man making a rude gesture showed on the screen. However, the holovid player went dark afterward, and silent. 

Bodhi went to put it back in his pack, then paused. He pulled the holovid out again. 

“Thank you,” Bodhi said.

The screen flashed to an image of an avian species, bowing their head solemnly at the screen. Bodhi put the holovid player away and kept walking. 

* * *

By the time Bodhi got to the city outskirts, he felt like he was on the verge of losing his mind. K-2SO had remained blissfully silent, and Bodhi’s mind had started wandering. In the last few weeks he had managed to lose his sanity temporarily, his family on Jedha, the man he loved, find something that may have been a family, then lose them too. 

‘The sound of tentacles, sliding across the floor. Trapped in the chair, trying to get out. If I could just move my hand, just a little bit further, I might get free, it’s too late…’

Bodhi snapped back to himself, heart pounding. Bohdi walked faster. 

‘Now is not the time,’ he reminded himself, firmly, ‘focus on the mission. Find the forger, bargain for ship ID scrubbing. Find the forger…’

If he had moved a little faster, he could have gotten them out. If he had thrown the grenade back instead of hiding from the blast, he might have gained precious few moments. He could have saved...someone. Chirrut and Baze, and he could have had some memory of Jedha. Maybe he could have found Cassian and Jyn. How many of the members of the Rebellion would still be alive if Bodhi had moved a little faster, made the run sooner. If he had never helped build that damn weapon at all…

“No,” Bodhi said out loud. He took a breath. “Find the forger…” he muttered. 

* * *

Bodhi looked out of place, but not as far out of place as he could have. There were enough…’outdoorsy’ sorts of people around that he wasn’t looked at too askance. Bodhi shifted his pack, kept his head down, and checked the map on his datapad. 

There was a grocery storefront, Waspi Grocers, and asking about a particular sort of off-world fruit was the key to getting a meeting with the forger. The storefront was about three streets down, then half a block up…

“You need better gear, kid.”

The blood rushed out of Bodhi’s face, and he fought to keep his expression calm. Looking up he saw a tiny elderly Bimm woman looking at him from the patio of a nearby house. Bodhi nodded to her, and made to keep walking. 

“Aw, come on kid.” The woman left the patio and walked toward him. She had started grinning, and her face, already lined with age, became a cheerful pile of wrinkles. 

Bodhi briefly considered walking faster, but slowed to a reluctant stop. He couldn’t afford to stand out too much. Besides, she didn’t seem to threatening. 

“Look, sweetie, I know my neighbors, and you ain’t them. I’d remember a tall drink of water like yourself.” She strolled over to him, barely coming to his waist. She winked up at him. 

Bodhi stammered for a moment. 

“But your gear is all wrong to go hiking. What sort of a city kid doesn’t buy a decent pack first?”

Bodhi thought that stopping might have been a mistake. 

“And those ain’t hiking boots. You look more like military.”

Bodhi was certain that stopping had been a mistake. What would he do if she decided to put up a fuss? Bodhi was fairly certain that his newfound determination to stay free, find the Rebellion, and burn the death star to ash did not extend to killing nice old neighborhood women. Nice, dangerous, observant old neighborhood women.

Interrupting Bodhi’s panicked thoughts was his pack, which began playing the opening theme song to a popular holonet game show. 

Bodhi was going to kill K-2SO. Trying to ignore the sound coming from his pack, Bodhi stammered out something about a surplus store and not enough credits. 

The music got louder. 

The old woman darted her head around his side and started reaching for his pack. Bodhi quickly slung his pack away from her, muttering, “Oh, so sorry, I don’t know why it’s doing that.”

He pulled the holovid player out, just as the game show theme song reached full blast. 

“She’s the one for YOOOOUUUUU!!!” The cheesy theme wailed. 

The woman looked at him, her grin reappearing.

“Ah, I’m, I’m sorry, I really thought I turned this off,” Bodhi muttered helplessly, as he glared at the holovid player. He uselessly mashed a few buttons. 

The theme song rewound and went back to the beginning.

“Oh my god,” Bodhi said. 

“That’s a great show. Shame your holovid is broken. You normally go hiking with a player, Military Boots?” The woman said, her grin looking less like a cheerful old woman and more like a predator with trapped prey. 

“I can’t miss my shows,” Bodhi said, flashing a quick forced smile at the woman before returning to K-2SO with growing dismay. 

“Well, I’ve got a repulsarblade in the back room, we can pry that thing open and get it working again!” The woman said, reaching for K-2SO again. 

“No!” Bodhi said quickly. 

“She’s the one for YOOOOUUUUU!!!” the speakers pronounced. 

“It’s going to get real annoying if you just let it do that, kid,” she said. 

Bodhi’s eyes widened and stared at the holographic display. 

“Yes, no, it’s fine, I know what to do,” Bodhi said, hunching over the holovid player. He pressed two buttons at the same time for dramatic effect. “I know what to do,” he repeated to K-2SO. 

The display shut down. 

Bodhi took a second put the holovid player away, before turning to the old Bimm woman again. She regarded him with a mixture of glee and suspicion. 

“Yes,” Bohdi said, inclining his head toward her. “I suppose I do look a bit out of place. I was heading over to Waspi Grocers, I heard that they have the best Vesar ice berries around. Any truth to that?” 

The glee dropped off the old woman’s face, and the suspicion remained. Bodhi had a moment of prickling anxiety that he had interpreted K-2SO’s message wrong.

The woman abruptly started grinning again, and tugged on Bodhi’s hand. At full volume, she announced, “I thought it might be you! You’ve grown so much! It’s so nice of you to come and visit me.” 

The woman said, under her breath, “Come inside. We shouldn’t talk out here.” 

* * *

The cheerful tiny old woman woman was a ruthless negotiator. She brushed off Bodhi’s rebellion contacts, informing him that money was more important than connections. Unfortunately, a quick review of the shuttle’s inventory left her shaking her head. 

“If I take enough to make it worth my time, you won’t have enough to fly.” She put down the datapad and looked at Bodhi. 

“Look, if you want to hightail on out of here and take your chances with your ship pinging Imperial, go ahead, I won’t stop you. But, if you really did come to do business, we can talk.”

Bodhi didn’t know what to say, so he gestured for her to continue in a manner he hoped was nonchalant.

“Two systems over, I can mark it on the map, there’s a new smuggler that’s trying to get started. He’s leaving his shipments nearly unguarded, and I can’t stand having such sloppy work happen so close to me. I know when the next shipment is happening. Take the cargo for me, and I won’t just mask your ID, I’ll give you two other ID overlays, one that can take you through Imperial space, and one that can get you through neutral systems. It’s a hell of a deal,”

“It’s a transport ship,” Bodhi protested. 

“It’s got guns! Look, this is a cakewalk, that I am only offering to you because you are cute, and you look like a lost puppy.” 

Bodhi’s mouth gaped open before he snapped it shut.

“There must be another option,” Bodhi said. 

“You’re not getting an offer better than this one.” The Bimm woman shrugged. “Take it or leave it. Come back with the cargo, we will talk. Now get out of here.”

She began hustling him toward the door. Bodhi let himself be pushed along. As they got to the door she yelled, “Come back and see me again soon, Darling. Don’t let it go so long!” 

Bodhi did his best to play along with a grin and a wave, but his heart wasn’t in it. 

* * *

Bodhi spent a good half hour of the walk back out of town doing his best to ignore his own thoughts. He felt jumbled up and confused, with nothing coming in the right order. 

After the first half hour, Bodhi’s morose introspection was interrupted by a high pitched noise from K-2SO. Bodhi reluctantly reached around and grabbed the holovid. 

The display showed a young humanoid child with it’s head thrown back, huge smile on its face, apparently the source of the high-pitched noise the holovid recorder was emitting. 

“Why are you so happy?” Bodhi grouched. “We didn’t get the ID.”

The high pitched noise continued for another twenty seconds. Bodhi made to put the holovid back in his pack. The screen quickly changed, cutting to the interior of a ship, a frazzled man looking at a display and gasping. 

“Space Pirates!” the man proclaimed. 

“You are the worst,” Bodhi said, shoving the holovid recorder in his pack. 

* * *

For his troubles, Bodhi was treated to three episodes of “Karvasi, Pirate of the Halthor Sector.” By the time he got back to the ship he was irritated, tired, and oddly invested in whether or not Karvasi’s scheme to rob the Tyrant of Darkness’s sky palace was going to be successful. 

As soon as they got to the shuttle, the holovid shut off, and K-2SO began speaking through the ship’s console again.

“I told you the best plan was the one where we get to be space pirates,” K-2SO said. 

Bodhi responded by dropping his pack to the shuttle floor and flopping into the pilot’s chair. He pulled the holovid recorder out of his pack and propped it up in a small niche behind the chair. 

“No, it’s not the best plan. This is not a combat ship. We are going to get blown to dust in space.” 

“It’s not NOT a combat ship. It has guns,” K-2SO pointed out. 

“As you have said.” Bodhi pulled his arms forward and poked at the console, throwing up the ship specifications. “The ship I piloted was not too different from this one. This is a little smaller, but that’s not a bad thing in combat. It’ll be easier to maneuver.” 

“That sounded like you recognizing the superiority of my plan,” K-2SO stated.

“No, that was my despair at realizing that the Space Pirates plan just became the only plan.” 

“Close enough. I wonder how many guns I can fire at once,” K-2SO said.

“Not until we are safely offplanet. ‘Rebel shuttle blows holes in hills. Three hikers killed. Imperial traitor scheduled for public execution.” Bodhi started the pre-flight startup sequence.

“You mention death one-hundred and seventy-five percent more than Cassian did,” K-2SO informed Bodhi. 

* * *

It turned out that K-2SO could fire all of the guns at once with absolutely no accuracy. Bodhi and K-2SO stared out the window at the practice asteroid that sat there, mocking them, as they waited for the system to stop overheating.

“Frankly, I’m astounded that you managed to fire any of the laser cannons at all. How does your programming even work?” 

“I told you. Crisis of identity next week. No existential questions until then.”

“It was really more of a practical question than an existential one.” 

The system chimed that power balances had been restored. 

“I’m going to try to shoot everything again.” 

“Maybe just try one gun and actually hit the thing?” 

All five laser cannons fired. The asteroid remained unscathed. 

* * *

Eventually, K-2SO could fire two cannons at a time with reasonable accuracy.

“Four of the cannons are front facing. Only one can hit behind us.” Bodhi winced as he considered their tactical options. “We’re doomed if anyone gets behind us. The shuttle can’t turn quickly.”

“So be a good pilot and don’t let anyone get behind us,” K-2SO said. 

“Ah, yes, that solves the problem. Just don’t let anyone get behind us. Now that you’ve said it, I’m sure we won’t have any problems.” 

“Perfect. You are welcome.” 

Bodhi stared at chart the forger had given them of the smuggler’s known route. Bodhi tapped a point on the projection. “If we drop out of hyperspace here—”

“Don’t just point. Draw. I can’t SEE you,” K-2SO said. 

“Ah, I, sorry, of course.” Bodhi manipulated the map. “Okay so if we-”

“No,” K-2SO interrupted. 

“Can you still not see?”

“I see I need to express myself with more specificity. Allow me to try again. No. Your plan is ill conceived and shows no grasp of tactical strategy.” 

Bodhi attempted to angrily scribble out his mark, but the map no longer responded to his input. Instead a series of dots and marks appeared.

“We come out here. The moon will hide our approach from most radar scans. The plotted course of the smuggler’s ship passes close to the moon. His ship is likely faster than ours, so we need to discourage a chase.”

Time estimates appeared on the map. 

“Normally this would mean we come out here, in front of the shuttle. However, due to the relative maneuverability of our ships, this gains us little advantage. Coming out here, behind the shuttle, should give us approximately twenty seconds of reaction time. In that time frame I have an eighty-five percent chance of disabling the ship’s main engines. This prevents them from running. Next, we need to avoid them shooting at us. The rear approach is frequently poorly armed. With the minimal engine power they have, we gain the advantage of maneuverability. So long as your piloting skills are not completely remedial, we will be able to remain behind them, neutralizing the vast majority of weapon threat, while maintaining a tactical advantage. We want them to believe we are a fully-armed troop transport, in which case we need to avoid actually boarding them. I will think on this.” 

Bodhi stared, wide-eyed at the speed of the calculations, and the level of detail. “How did you...” he trailed off. 

“This is what I was made to do. I am very good at this.” K-2SO somehow made the shuttle’s montone announcement voice sound unbearably smug. 

Bodhi examined the screen again, musing on the remaining issue. “I think I know how we can avoid boarding them.”

* * *

The smuggler’s vessel hung against a backdrop of moon and stars, main engines disabled, trying to maneuver using their atmospheric thrusters. 

Bodhi blinked twice carefully and shook his head. “That was amazing. And terrifying.” 

“I know,” replied K-2SO. 

Now it was Bodhi’s turn. Okay. He could do this. No problem. He had sweet talked his way onto Scarif, he could do this. 

“Open the comm channel,” Bodhi announced, picking up his microphone. 

An electronic hiss let him know his mic was active. 

“Unauthorized vessel number 11249, please state your identification and purpose.” Bodhi put on his best Imperial Officer voice. 

After about ten second the response came. “Oh, uh, yes, this is the transport vessel Overmark. We a trading license to operate—” 

Bodhi cut him off. “Yes. When we board your ship, I’m sure all your papers will be in order. And I’m certain you won’t mind waiting while we call in the report. We could do it that way. I have a feeling we will wind up with your vessel seized, your crew imprisoned, and your cargo confiscated.”

“Sir, I—” 

“Silence,” Bodhi bit back. “We could do it that way, and we will, if you force the issue. However, it could be that we found the wreckage of a ship, confiscated the cargo. Much less time involved. Mm, but if I blow up your ship, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t get any cargo out of the deal at all, isn’t there?” 

Bodhi paused, making a show of thinking. 

“Sir, we will be happy to surrender the cargo in exchange for the safe passage of our ship and crew,” the voice said, a thin thread of hope in his defeated voice.

“Well, I suppose if I ran across enough high quality cargo, it really does me no benefit to process your arrest and seizure. Gunner, maintain lock on ship until cargo has been received.”

Eventually, cargo was jettisoned, and Bodhi scanned it for explosives or other dangerous materials. None found, they began the process of bringing the cargo on board. Bodhi hauled the crates from the airlock to the main hold.

“I really wish you had your body. This would go much faster.” Sweat dripped into Bodhi’s eyes and he did his best to blink it away. 

“Yes, you are clearly the person most inconvenienced by my not having a body. Have I mentioned that I have no eyes?” 

Bodhi gave a little side nod, realized K-2SO couldn’t see it, then said aloud, “Fair.” 

Once all the cargo was in place, Bodhi hailed the smuggler. 

“Transport vessel Overmark you are free to depart.” A cruel jab, considering their current lack of engines, but the sort of jab a corrupt Imperial would make. 

“Acknowledged. It is a shame your enthusiastic enforcement of trading corridors does not go hand in hand with proper care for your colonies.” The voice was barely holding back anger. 

In the background Bodhi heard another crew member saying, “By the Force, shut your mouth!” 

Bodhi looked at the mic, confused. He responded in as dry a voice as he could, “We will take that under advisement.” 

Bodhi jumped the shuttle into hyperdrive. From behind him the holovid player began playing a triumphant march. Bodhi jumped. He forgot that K-2SO was still wired to the holovid player.

“That was fun,” K-2SO said through the console speakers. 

Bodhi slumped over the chair, head in hands. “I can’t believe that worked.” 

Bodhi held one hand in front of his face. He watched the hand tremble as the aftershocks of adrenaline ran through it. 

“Of course it worked. I am an unparalleled strategist. You make for a surprisingly competent Imperial Officer.”

“Yes, well, you hear it a lot.” Bodhi flashed back to all the times he had lounged around in Galen’s room, often boneless after fantastic sex, listening as Galen calmly taken other Imperial personnel to pieces over comms. Bodhi’s Imperial dry, cruel confidence had been Galen’s mask first. 

Well, Galen wasn’t using it anymore. 

Bodhi felt the adrenaline leave him all at once. Bone-deep grief and exhaustion swept over him. He pressed the heels of his palms against his mouth to keep any noise from escaping. He pressed harder, letting the pressure and dull pain ground him back to the present. 

“...and of course, my accuracy with the cannons was unparalleled.”

Bodhi took a slow breath in and out, and pulled his palms away from his face. “What do you think the smuggler meant. About the colonies?” 

K-2SO responded, “Does it matter?

“It might. I need to check the crates.”

* * *

Bodhi stared at the open crate. 

It was tightly packed with row upon row of small bottles. Painkillers. 

Next crate. Antitoxin.

Next crate, medical supply equipment. Quick-seal casts and auto-injectors. 

A solid three crates were full of anti-radiation patches. 

Bodhi felt sick. “Where was this going?” 

“Why? We are taking it back to the forger,” K-2SO said. 

“I need to know.” 

“Fine. Extrapolating from likely course.” K-2SO fell silent for a moment. “Colony Lehsu. Originally founded in Republic territory, absorbed by the Empire five years ago.” 

Bodhi walked back to the console, and looked at the information scrolling across it. “They’ve been completely isolated by the Empire.” 

“Yes. Without smuggled goods, it is likely the colony will die off,” K-2SO responded. 

“We’ve got to give it back.” 

No sound came from the console. 

“K-2SO?” Bodhi reached over and tapped the display. 

No response. 

“Come on, don’t sulk. You know it’s the right thing to do.” Bodhi huffed in frustration, stood up and walked away from the console. Looking for something to do, he began packing the crates. 

He never should have taken the job from the forger. Just let the smuggler do the supply run. Or at least researched more. He could have extrapolated the location before he hit the smuggler. That would have raised some concerns. 

It didn’t matter. You made a mistake, you did what you could to make it right. Bodhi had far darker shadows over his soul. This one was at least fixable. 

The console chimed. 

“Additional input required,” the shuttle’s voice rang out. It didn’t...sound like K-2SO. Alarmed, Bodhi returned to the console.

“What was that?” he asked. 

“Additional input required. I have moved up my crisis of identity to now. Your input is required,” the console informed him. 

“K-2SO? You’re doing this now?” 

No answer. Bodhi tipped his head back and ran his fingers through his hair. His hand clenched in frustration.

“Fine. You are still K-2SO. It doesn’t matter what your body looks like,” Bodhi said, unable to keep the exasperation out of his voice. 

“No!” A voice screamed from the holovid behind him. Bodhi jumped, and looked at it. 

The shuttle console continued, ever a calm monotone. Feeling emotional whiplash, Bodhi looked back at the console. 

“That is irrelevant. I am my programming. Cassian programmed me. I was different before him. He is gone. Who am I now?” K-2SO asked.

From the holovid came soft cries. Bodhi didn’t turn around to look at it. 

Bodhi had difficulty swallowing around the large lump in his throat. His eyes pricked. He couldn’t say anything. 

“Cassian would have never let me steal medical supplies. Not without a good reason. I could do it now. There is nothing stopping me. You once said Galen had programmed you. He is gone. How do you remain?” The console continued, offset by the crying in the background. 

Galen. 

It was true. Over late nights and stolen moments, whispered in ears and traced on skin, Galen had shaped Bodhi’s moral conscience. Bodhi had begun their relationship a resentful young man who just wanted to get his work done. By the end, he was willing to throw his life away to gain some measure of peace and atonement. Galen had been planning his careful sabotage for thirteen years. He had been with Bodhi for three. There is no way that Galen hadn’t been shaping Bodhi’s place in his plan. There was no way Galen’s affection had been without cunning. Bodhi knew that. 

It had haunted him, as soon as Jyn described her father’s plan. Felt like a crushing weight around his heart. Did Galen ever love him? Was Galen using him? Now he was dead and Bodhi would never get to ask him.

It didn’t matter. Bodhi knew with bone-deep certainty the answer to both was yes. Bodhi was a tool. Bodhi was loved. 

Tears slid down his cheeks. 

“I decided it was worth it,” Bodhi said. “He shaped me. But in the end, I had to choose. Do I want to be the person he wanted me to be?”

“What did you choose?” The console asked. 

“I decided I liked who I was after Galen better than the person I was before. I couldn’t go back. Destroying that weapon, making things right, it was Galen’s plan first. But it’s my plan now.” 

The console was silent. Lights flickered across the console in a silent pattern. From behind him, the holovid continued to cry. Bodhi’s tears continued to come. 

“I don’t remember who I was before Cassian. Not really,” K-2SO said. “I remember waking up after, and not being able to access parts of my memory. Not being able to access specific functions. I knew I needed to follow the instructions of the man in front of me.”

“Were you angry?” Bodhi asked. 

The console lights flashed once. “No,” K-2SO said. “I don’t really feel emotions like that.”

Bodhi glanced at the holovid, still rotating through scenes of soft sobs. “Are you sure?”

The holovid stopped playing. 

“There is no good word for what I process. Emotions are a rough translation. Still, better than nothing. What I felt, anger isn’t closest. Maybe...excitement? Confusion? I was less in some ways, but it didn’t matter, because I was more in others.” 

“That sounds familiar,” Bodhi said, voice rough. He pulled his knees up onto the chair, and rested his head on them. 

“I want Cassian to be here,” K-2SO said. 

“Yes,” Bodhi said. “Sometimes, I think about what I would be willing to give up, to get Galen back. It’s never a happy thought.” 

“I...cannot quantify what I would do to get Cassian back,” K-2SO said. “But many of the things I would be willing to do, he wouldn’t want me to.” 

“That’s the problem I always run into as well. It’s what we get for falling in love with good people.” 

“I was not in love with Cassian.” 

“Okay.”

“Gross. Love.” 

Bodhi felt some of the grief retreat, and he smiled a bit. “Oh, yes, cannot quantify what you would do for someone. That doesn’t sound like love at all.”

The console did not respond immediately. This time the silence felt companionable. 

“Curses,” the console finally said. 

“What?” 

“I’ve caught ethics, I’m never going to be a proper space pirate now,” K-2SO mourned. 

Bodhi couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. 

“Oh, yes, laugh at my pain. Some companion you are.” 

* * *

Bodhi finished unloading the crates a few miles outside of Colony Lehsu. He pulled a camouflage tarp over them, and returned to the ship. 

“I’m thinking inconsiderate thoughts about how much simpler this would be if you had a body again,” Bodhi announced to the shuttle.

“So get me a body. That seems reasonable,” K-2SO responded. 

“It’s on the list,” Bodhi muttered. “Have you made any progress on the front of, ‘How do we actually let the colonists know where the crates are without letting the Imperials know where the crates are?’” 

“No. I think you are going to have to go into town again,” K-2SO replied. 

Bodhi groaned. “I just want to be done hiking.” 

* * *

They moved the shuttle slightly away, and Bodhi resigned himself to the fact that he was, in fact, not Done Hiking. 

Bodhi picked up the holovid player and put it back in his pack. He reflected that he was actually going to miss having K-2SO around to talk to to. He considered actually telling K-2SO this, then thought better of it. K-2SO was insufferable enough as-is.

“All set?” he asked instead. 

“We have got to find something better to store me in,” K-2SO replied.

“That’s an odd sentence.” Bodhi shook his head. 

“I’m a holovid player. It’s an odd existence.” 

“Point.” 

He set out hiking, K-2SO a silent companion in his pack. In contrast to the scrublands he had hiked before, this was a full on forest. Bodhi found himself getting nervous at the strange sounds. He let out a small jump with every rustling leaf. He kept his blaster out. 

In his hypervigilance, he nearly shot: a leaf that fell out of a tree right in front of him, a small furry prey animal that darted across his path, a suspicious looking log in his peripheral vision, and a small floating Imperial sentry droid. 

That last one made him rather grateful to the hypervigilance, actually. He managed to duck behind a tree in time and held still, heart pounding. He prayed that K-2SO wouldn’t decide that now was a good time to start playing a quiz show or something. 

The droid ambled by, and then back. Bodhi waited for a long count of fifty before pulling the holovid player of of his back and whispering to it. 

“We’ve got company. Imperial sentry droid. Keep quiet.” 

The holovid player flickered on and showed a teenage boy shaking a fork at a toaster. The volume was so low that Bodhi could barely make out that he was saying, “—deactivate you—”

“I can try,” Bodhi responded. “I’m not that good of a shot. Wouldn’t it be better to avoid it?”

The screen briefly flashed over to the now-familiar war veteran, “—terrible shooting—”

“I literally just said that,” Bodhi managed to keep his voice soft.

“Where there’s one, there’s more” the holovid player informed him as giant ants marched across the screen. 

“Why are they out here though? This is a neglected colony, with restricted travel all around it oh—why is the travel restricted there has to be a reason. Why didn’t I think of that?” 

The holovid showed a picture of a lightbulb turning on. 

“—deactivate you—” toaster teen threatened again. The holovid player turned off. After a moment, it turned back on again.

A tiny furry creature with huge eyes reached up with grabbing hands. “Pwease?” it asked. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Bodhi said. 

Bodhi continued through the forest as quietly as he could. He did his best to listen to the soft hum of electronics that had tipped him off to the droid’s presence the first time. Eventually he found a likely pile of bushes and settled in to wait. Hopefully the sentry droid travelled out this way. 

He waited among the branches, listening, his blaster in one hand and a large seed pod from one of the trees in his other. His heart pounded, and every noise and rustle in the forest seemed unbearably loud. Eventually, Bodhi heard the barely-there whine of repulsorlifts again. Bodhi looked down at his hands. They were shaking. 

For a moment, Bodhi considered just hiding. But, he had to admit, K-2SO was a good strategist. If he thought it was worth the risk for Bodhi to try to deactivate the droid—Bodhi decided to trust him. 

As the droid approached, Bodhi took the seed pod and lobbed it out in front of him. The done hummed its way over to investigate. Bodhi lifted his gun and with an internal prayer to whatever deity was watching, shot the droid.

It hit, and the droid made no noise before falling to the earth. 

Bodhi slumped in relief. He made his way over to the droid body and picked it up. With a moment’s consideration for additional droids, he took it back to his pile of bushes before pulling the holovid player out of his pack. 

“Alright. I did it.” 

The holovid player flicked on. Still nearly silent, the image of the young girl and the science kit flicked on as K-2SO said, “Yes!”

The image switched to a woman with a severe haircut holding a gun. “Let’s get in there.” 

“What?” said Bodhi. 

The scene played again. “Let’s get in there.” 

“You want me to...go to the base it came from?” That would have been easier if the droid were still functioning. 

“No.” A Brigian tapped one long thin finger against its chin. 

“I...you want me to look inside the droid?” 

“Yes!” proclaimed girl with beakers. 

“For what?” 

The recorder showed an old woman who let out an exasperated sigh. 

“I am trying,” Bodhi said. 

A series of scenes flashed by, a word or two playing from each scene.

“—put—” 

“Me.”

“—in the—”

“—droids!” 

“Wait.” Bodhi put up a hand. “You want me to wire you into this thing.” 

“Yes!” the girl said. 

“Right now,” Bodhi replied.

“Yes!” 

“And that’s why you had me shoot the droid.”

“Yes!” 

“You consider that an acceptable risk?” 

“Yes!” 

“I was going to buy you a body soon! Couldn’t you have...I don’t know...been patient?” 

“No.” 

The screen changed to the small furry child again. “Pwease?”

Bodhi rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Fine. I’ll at least see if it’s possible.”

* * *

The damp forest floor seeped through his pants by the time he was done attempting to wire a droid-controlled holovid player into the shell of another droid. Bodhi wished he had thought to return to the ship where he had proper tools, but that would have meant hiking while hauling a droid corpse and that thought made Bodhi want to die. 

“Alright, that’s as good as I can do here.” Bodhi stepped back and examined his work critically. He was honestly surprised when, with a small beep, the droid rose up, the holovid player clumsily wired to the top of it. The holovid player showed the same young humanoid with it’s head thrown back, shrieking in high-pitched joy. The sound was so quiet Bodhi couldn’t actually hear anything other than a vague ring. The droid spun in three quick circles before bumping into Bhodhi.

“Thank you,” K-2SO said via the holovid player. 

“You look,” Bodhi shook his head, “like a monstrosity.” 

The droid whistled cheerfully and darted off through the underbrush. Bodhi cursed and did his best to follow K-2SO. 

“At least he’s happy,” Bodhi mused to himself. 

K-2SO, the small floating sentry drone, could move far faster and quieter than Bodhi Rook, human, could. Bodhi decided not to sacrifice speed for silence, and trudged along as best he could. After about twenty minutes of creeping through the forest, K-2SO darted back out of the underbrush, nearly got shot by Bodhi, and whistled. 

The holovid player said, “Come on!” “—to go—” “Back to—” “—the ship.”

“You want me to go back to the ship,” Bodhi said flatly. 

The droid bobbed up and down. 

“You want me to hike back to the ship.” 

More bobbing. 

“You are the worst,” Bodhi said with feeling. Still, he turned around and started trudging back to the ship. 

* * *

By the time they returned safely to the ship, Bodhi was tired, wet, and ready to kill something. 

“Why did I just hike out, kill a droid, then hike back?” 

“You are cranky,” K-2SO said from the shuttle speakers. 

Bodhi sighed. Then sneezed. 

“Well, you will be happy to know that while you blundered through the forest, I was able to scout out the Imperial presence, and gained valuable information.”

“You mean you went into an Imperial garrison looking like that!?” Bodhi jabbed his hand at the obviously modded sentry droid wearing a holovid player like a jaunty hat. 

“No, I—oh, you look terrible.” K-2SO swiveled the sentry droid’s eye to look at Bodhi. “You are dripping all over my nice floor. Go shower. Dry off. Your hair is messy.” 

“What?” Bodhi said, giving the sentry droid an incredulous look. “Why do you care?” 

“I can see you now,” K-2SO responded. “We can’t get the message to town until we deal with what I found. What I found will still be here after you shower.” 

“Fine.” Bodhi threw his hands in the air and stomped off the the ‘fresher. 

* * *

“It’s an Intelligence Center,” K-2SO informed him through the shuttle console.

Bodhi was tucked into the pilot’s chair. Warm, clean, and comfortable he had to admit he felt much better. He was irritated at how much better he felt. 

K-2SO’s small droid body had extended a port and was plugged into the shuttle console. The shuttle in turn projected a series of images of the outside of the intelligence center. One satellite perched at the top of a nondescript building. 

“Do they know we are here?” Bodhi said.

“Unlikely. There is only one satellite, and no other visible sensors on the building. It is protected by the fact that it is out of the way and that this is a restricted travel zone.” 

“Why would the Empire put a building like that out here?”

“It’s likely a data processing hub. Offsite servers, encryption codes, data comes in, gets chewed up by whatever machines are in there, gets sent out again. Nobody knows where the data processing is taking place. Except for us.” 

“Right. Since you had us come back here, I’m guessing we can’t just hike past it,” Bodhi said. 

“Yes. There are a sufficient number of sentry droids that there would be a sixty-five percent of detection during the hike, even with precautions. You are simply too large and clumsy.” 

“Thanks.” Bodhi murmured, working the problem in his head. “Could you go alone?” 

“I—yes—you would trust me?” K-2SO said. 

Bodhi looked at K-2SO. Well, at first he looked at the speakers on the shuttle console, then he remembered K-2SO had eyes now, and he looked over at the sentry droid. 

“Of course,” Bodhi said. 

The console was silent, before the holovid player flicked on, showing an image of surprise and a slow smile spreading across a young man’s face. 

Bodhi grinned back. 

“Remember, I don’t truly feel emotions. It’s an approximation of my infinitely more complex circuitry.”

Bodhi nodded gravely, suppressing the grin to a small quirk at the corner of his mouth. “Of course. Just to check, this is the same infinitely complex circuitry that lived in a holovid player for a while?” 

The holovid recording shut off. 

“Regardless, that is still a flawed plan, as path from the town to the crates is also within radius of the sentry droids."

“No. Don’t tell me we have to go, move the crates into the shuttle, move the shuttle to the other side of the colony, move the crates back out of the shuttle, move the shuttle again, hike back into town from that location, and then hike back to the shuttle.” Bodhi’s let his head fall back in the chair, staring at the ceiling in despair. 

“Yes, that is one plan. Exactly. You may someday be a not entirely incompetent tactician. “

Bodhi lifted his head again, glancing at K-2SO’s sentry droid. “One plan?” 

“Well. I’m not certain you will like the other plan,” K-2SO said. 

“I find it very hard to believe that there is any plan I would dislike more than the one I just said.” 

“We could seize the Imperial base.” 

“You are taking into account there are just two of us?” Bodhi asked. 

“Yes. However, the base has little to no personnel. One, maybe two people. It has some strong defenses, but they are all wired into an electronic system that I should be able to access with my newest body.” 

“Okay. So you go on foot, and deactivate the defense systems. I fly the shuttle and...”

“Once I have control of the defense systems, you can fly the ship in, do that pretending you are good at to get any Imperials out of there, and we can seize the base.” 

“This sounds like the Space Pirates plan,” Bodhi pointed out, running his fingers through his hair. 

K-2SO’s sentry body flinched. 

“Yes, which is why I thought you wouldn’t like it,” K-2SO said. The holovid flickered on, frozen on a scene from “Karvasi, Pirate of the Halthor Sector.” Karvasi looked dejected. 

“No, I—I think I like it.” Bodhi tapped his chin, thinking aloud, “We could get a lot of good information. Useful to the Rebellion. We might even be able to figure out where the closest suspected Rebel base is.”

“There is one more issue with the plan,” K-2SO informed him. “It is becoming more difficult for me to split my attention as I gain more bodies. It is highly unlikely that I will be able to serve as gunner on board the shuttle and use the droid to manipulate the defense systems. Until the defense systems are taken offline, you may be on your own.” 

“Alright.” Bodhi took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” 

“Now?” K-2SO said. 

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you don’t need a few minutes to come around to the idea? Want to wait? Shoot at some asteroids?” 

“None of that will help us be more prepared. And the longer your droid body is missing the more likely they are to be suspicious of it reappearing.” 

“Tactically sound,” K-2SO said. Still, no movement came from the shuttle. 

“Is there something I’m not thinking of?” Bodhi asked. 

“No.” For a long moment K-2SO didn’t say anything further. “Actually, I want to update my backup. If something happens to me...it would be inconvenient to need to have a crisis of identity all over again.” 

Bodhi nodded, then pulled the original disc out of where he had been keeping it safely in a protected pocket under his uniform. 

* * *

“I am approaching the base now. Going silent,” the shuttle intoned. 

“Alright here we go.” Bodhi took the shuttle off the ground, but stayed as low to the trees as he could. He flew a slow route over to the location of the base. K-2SO and Bodhi had argued over how much of a lead to give K-2SO. In the end, K-2SO had to agree that it made better tactical sense for Bodhi to be backing him up in the sky, even if it increased risk of detection. Bodhi was amused that K-2SO had argued for Bodhi to wait at all. He might almost believe the droid liked him. 

He was about half a minute outside the complex when alerts started to ping across his shuttle. 

A chirp came through his communicator, followed by, “Imperial vessel, identify yourself.”

Bodhi picked up his communicator and responded, “This is Ensign Marshalls, inbound from Vela-2. I’m prepared to relieve you, ma’am.” 

“Ensign Marshalls,” as the Imperial spoke Bodhi heard the sound of keypad typing. “There’s no record of an incoming shuttle today.” 

“Well, maybe it’s flagged under a personnel transfer? My commanding officer said he sent it on.” Bodhi said, in his best baffled baby officer voice. “Please tell me the landing pad is clear. I don’t even want to think about what happens if I accidentally alert the colonists to our presence.”

“The landing pad is clear but it doesn’t matter, because there is no record of your transfer. I demand you land immediately or you will be shot down.”

“Shot down? Ma’am, there must be some mistake. If you just call Lieutenant Williams, I can give you his comm line.”

“Last warning, shuttle, stand down or be fired upon.” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to land. I’m not seeing any openings!” Bodhi let his voice go high and made sure to keep the comms on long enough that his hyperventilating breaths transmitted. 

“Just land, Marshalls, we will get this figured out.” 

“There’s trees everywhere!” 

“Of course there are trees - for the love of the Emperor, we are in a forest Marshalls! You are flying a ship that weighs well over ten tons! It can handle trees!” 

“But they could be hiding rocks!” Bodhi was beginning to have a difficult time not laughing into the communicator. He might have shoot himself down out of sheer frustration. 

Bodhi glided his shuttle into a zigzag pattern, as if he was looking for a landing space.

“Look, Ensign, you might die because you landed wrong. But you will die if you fly another hundred yards towards the outpost. Your choice.” The comm line went silent. 

“I think we are out of time,” Bodhi announced to the shuttle, hoping K-2SO could hear it. Bodhi wasn’t sure exactly how much attention K-2SO had to spare with his networked bodies. 

Before K-2SO responded, the comm line flickered on again. “Nevermind, Marshalls, your transfer request just came through. Follow given approach.” 

Bodhi set the shuttle on the predetermined course, before saying, “Nice work.” 

“You too. It was very easy to believe you were very dumb,” K-2SO replied.

Bodhi flattened his lips together. “Thanks, buddy.” 

* * *

The Imperial who had been manning the intelligence station stalked up the ramp to greet him. Bodhi came out, wearing a scavenged Imperial uniform, and made a sheepish, apologetic display to her until K-2SO came up behind her and tazed her into unconsciousness. 

Bodhi secured the officer and proceeded to lug her well outside of the compound and tie her to a tree. Bodhi and K-2SO returned to the station, and proceeded to go through the inventory. 

“Oh no!” came an aghast voice out of the holovid player, now much more securely wired to the top of the droid. 

“What?” asked Bodhi, quickly looking up at him. 

A loud groan came out of the holovid player, a humanoid reptilian flopping down onto a couch and burying its head in its hands. 

“What?” Bodhi said, voice higher this time. 

The shuttle voice chimed through his comms, “There’s no better body than the ones I already have. All of the security guns are just guns.” 

Bodhi signed in relief. “Okay, okay.”

“Not okay,” K-2SO said. 

“It’s not a Star Destroyer dropping into near-atmosphere orbit intent on arresting us.” 

“Oh, no, we are entirely undetected,” K-2SO said. 

Bodhi shook his head. He went back to reviewing the log of entries and stored equipment. 

“This. This is amazing. Look!” He waved the datapad in K-2SO’s direction. “These are some of the Empire’s encrypt/decrypt codes. If we can get this back to the Rebellion…”

“There are also Imperial shipping paths. If we…” K-2SO trailed off. 

“Decided to be Space Pirates again,” Bodhi finished for him. 

“Yes.”

“Well, copy the information on over on the the discs.” Bodhi looked over at the steadily-growing pile of discs next to him. “We are never going to transfer all this information before the Empire decides to check up on why their outpost went offline. So, we need to prioritize. See if there’s anything about suspected Rebellion outposts. Maybe we can pick up a trail back.” 

Bodhi tried a few keyword searches, and…”I’ve found something.” 

“Me too. I’ll go first. There’s a suspected Rebellion activity on Mystfour. A steady pattern of unrest and disturbance.” 

“Oh, good. Um, they were planning to kill someone here. A pastor. Apparently he was getting suspicious of the activity around the colony and they were unable to bribe him. Somewhat of a pillar of the community.” 

“That sounds like a terrible lead on Rebellion bases. Mine is much better.” 

“No, he’s someone we can tell about the crates! And warn about the potential murder.” Bodhi rolled his eyes at the sentry droid. 

“I can see you now,” K-2SO said. 

“That’s why I did it.”

* * *

As it turns out, there is no good way to inform someone there was an assassination attempt planned on their life. Not by you, you just...found out about it. And, by the way, you maybe stole their needed supplies but you were now completely willing to give them back, just go out to this secluded spot in the woods and pick them up. Oh, and maybe tell that smuggler to change up their routes. You’re not going to attack them again, but word got out somehow. 

“If you are not gone in the next two hours I will see you hang,” the pastor informed him, voice like daggers sliding in slowly. 

“Yes, of course, very sorry about this,” Bodhi said, then hung up. He shrugged at K-2SO, bundled up the data discs, and carried them back to the shuttle. 

As they took off from the ground K-2SO asked Bodhi “Am I correct in assuming we do not, in fact, want to leave the Imperials with a functioning encrypt/decrypt Intelligence Center?”

Bodhi nodded, swinging the shuttle around so that all five guns were pointed squarely at the building and its satellite. “And we should do it in such a way that it is absolutely clear that this was not the work of the locals. Have fun.” 

All five guns flashed at once. At this range, it was pretty much impossible to miss. Large holes of the building became rubble, and the rest of the building crumbled, its large satellite crashing to the ground. From the copilots seat, Bodhi heard maniacal laughter. He glanced over at the droid/holovid combination, strapped in. 

“Nice work,” Bodhi said, and pointed the shuttle toward the stars. 

* * *

The old Bimm woman tapped her chin as she reviewed the data discs. Bodhi curled his fingers around the mug of tea in front of him, debating internally whether or not it was safe to drink. The woman pulled her own cup toward her and sipped, Bodhi followed her lead. He wrinkled his nose. A little more floral than he preferred. 

“Well,” the forger said, finally, “It ain’t my shipment.”

“No,” Bodhi said, “We found that those goods were better served elsewhere. We have on good authority that the smuggler has changed their routes, though. Such ‘sloppy work’ won’t be an issue anymore.”

The woman snorted, “That’s always the trouble with giving jobs to people who look like puppies. You’re never ruthless enough.” 

“A bad case of ethics,” Bodhi agreed. “However, I think you’ll find these codes to be well worth your time.” 

“I can’t sell these the same as I could have the other shipment. I’ll have to change the compensation. I’ll give your ship one I.D.”

Bodhi laughed. He let some of Galen’s steel sink into his voice as he responded, “No. You can sell those codes for ten times what you would have sold the medicine for. Twenty. If you are clever enough, and I think you are very clever indeed, you can sell them over and over again. What would more ‘ruthless’ people pay for that shipping information? Can you imagine what being able to decrypt Imperial messages would go for on the black market? You will change your price. You’re going to give us those three flawless I.D.’s you promised before, as well as some other considerations.”

“No deal, kid,” the woman said, narrowing her eyes. 

Bodhi let the corner of his mouth twitch up, and began collecting the data pads. “Of course. I’m sure someone else will appreciate the information.”

The woman slammed her hand down on top of his before he could clear the discs away.

“Fine,” she grimaced, “Three I.D.’s. What else did you have in mind?” 

* * *

Bodhi was whistling as he drove the small speeder bike back to where the shuttle was parked. Thin and silent, the bike could double as a scouts vehicle. The bike had just enough power to haul a small repulsor-powered trailer hold behind him. 

He drove the bike up the ramp and directly into the cargo hold of the ship. He began unloading his haul, calling out to K-2SO, “I’m back.” 

The sentry droid trundled up to him, beeping softly. 

“How are the new I.D. codes working out?” Bodhi asked.

From the front of the shuttle he heard the reply. “Perfectly. What did you get?” 

“A gift,” Bodhi said. “Well, actually two gifts.”

Bodhi pulled a metal chassis slightly larger than the sentry droid and the holovid player put together. He held it up to the droid, nodding. The droids camera swiveled, examining it. 

“It’s not perfect, but there weren’t any good droid bodies with legs. I figured for now we could hook you up inside of here. That way you can wander around while being slightly less suspicious.” 

From the shuttle console K-2SO said, “Better than nothing.” 

His droid body betrayed some of his excitement as the small sentry droid ducked underneath the chassis to check the fit. Bodhi let the metal chassis go, laughing at the droid’s indignant squawk. After a couple seconds he picked it back up again, and K-2SO’s sentry body skittered away from Bodhi, scolding. 

Bodhi laughed. He reached back into the trailer and pulled out a complicated looking piece of machinery. 

“I hope you’re not planning on wiring that into me,” K-2SO said, his droid body coming back and examining the mass of wires.

“I don’t have to. But I thought you might want it. It’s a shielding upgrade. It’ll take significantly more hits than the current shield. I’d rather keep the shuttle intact.” Bodhi picked his way toward the front of the shuttle, dodging around the other supplies they had picked up. 

“You’d rather keep me intact,” K-2SO said. “You like me.” 

Bodhi smiled at the shuttle console, patting it twice. “I do not. You are the worst, remember?”

“You want to keep me safe. It makes you sad to think about me getting hurt.” 

“I suppose you are not intolerable. It is tactically sound to keep my friend safe,” Bodhi said, doing his best to mimic K-2SO’s stilted speech from the shuttle. 

“Friend,” K-2SO said. “Yes, I will permit your sentiment. Install the shielding.” 

“Many thanks.” Bodhi tucked his head under the console and pried open the panel he needed to get to the shielding subsystem power flow. “I’m going to need to cut the power for a minute so I can work safely. You going to be okay with just the sentry body?” 

“Yes,” the shuttle console said, “but, Bodhi?”

“Yes?” 

“Next time you feel the urge to do something nice for me, I’d like you to consider an additional rear-facing cannon with ion capabilities. Wait, no, an electromagnetic plasma cannon.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind, Buddy.” Bodhi rolled his eyes. Bodhi was quiet for a moment, then he sighed and said, “Hey, could you put on some ‘Karvasi, Pirate of the Halthor Sector?’ I’ve got to know whether the Tyrant of Darkness gets what is coming to him.”

“I knew it. You are hooked.” K-2SO said. The sentry droid floated over to where he was working, and the episode picked up where it had left off.

“The worst,” Bodhi muttered as he got to work, noise of the holovid comforting in the background.

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warnings:  
> PTSD: Bodhi's got a lot of PTSD symptoms, including flashbacks, hyper-vigilance, and racing heart/difficulty breathing. It's not explicitly dealt with.  
> Grief/Loss: Aside from Bodhi and K-2SO, everyone who died in cannon is still dead. Bodhi and K-2SO both have trouble dealing. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! These two characters had far more parallels than I was expecting at first, and it was fun to write a fic exploring that dynamic. I was surprised at how much FUN I had writing K-2SO. 
> 
> I'd love it if you left a comment, and I'm always up for chatting about this universe!


End file.
